Prologue: A trip to visit overseas archives
Back to the place of origin
In December 2012, in the freezing cold weather, I drove from New York airport to Vassar
College. I was overjoyed with the prospect of resuming my exploration of the archives in
the United States after a 30 year hiatus. Vassar College, located on the Hudson River,seventy-five miles to the north of New York City, is a prestigious college with animpressive and beautiful campus.
After I checked in at a hotel, I directly went to the Vassar College library. My purpose
was to study papers related to Ruth Benedict, the author of The Chrysanthemum and theSword, which are stored in the basement of the Archives and Special Collections Library.
After waiting for about two hours, I went through the registration procedure, to register
as a researcher, and the librarian handed me two folders which I had requested.
The regulation says that one folder is to be handed to one researcher. Fortunately, my wife
was with me and she also registered as a researcher, which enabled us to read twice asmuch materials as one person can. My wife is a graduate from a university deparptmentof literature English program and wrote her graduation thesis in English. So, she was ofgreat help to me.
In 1980, I went to the United States for the first time and stayed there for three years, withthe aim of examining the Allied General Headquarters (GHQ) papers housed in the UnitedStates and, through these papers, reexamining Japan’s postwar educational history.
When the papers of the U.S. Army and Navy were published twenty-five to thirty years
after the event, Japanese national newspapers simultaneously reported this news on theirfront pages. Stimulated by their coverage, I wanted to know what it was that Japan lostand gained through its postwar education by studying these papers that were now publicly
disclosed and available at archives in the US.
These papers are preserved in the United States National Archives annex, in the suburbsof Washington, D.C. As many as 10,283 boxes contain papers of General Headquarters.
When I learned of the sheer volume of papers, I felt totally despondent, believing that I
would never be able to finish reading all of the papers in my lifetime. I will never forget1the shock on the first day of my visit to the annex of the United States National Archives.
However, I found out that the papers pertaining to the CIE (the Civil Information and
Education Division), which was in charge of education and religion in Japan during theallied occupation, are contained in only 907 boxes, that is, about 2.4 million pages. I was
hopeful that I would be able to study 2.4 million pages in my lifetime. There was anotherobstacle, however. The regulation stated that only one hundred copies per year from thearchives are permitted.
The numerous files of GHQ papers were quite disorganized and out of order. The only
identifying marking on them was the name of the responsible person. So, I read files at
random and wrote down whatever I thought was important in my notes, which wasdishearteningly laborious. Despite my efforts, I was not able to find what I wanted. In theend, my handwritten notes filled ten cardboard boxes. Later, went I back to Japan, I
showed my voluminous notes to my students and they were totally flabbergasted, “OnlyMr. Takahashi could have done this!”
During my last six months in Washington D.C., I was firmly determined to complete mywork and miraculously succeeded in finding important papers, one after another. Until
that time, I spent agonizing days amidst a sea of papers. As soon as I informed Mr. Eto
Jun of the George W. Prange Collection (a collection of historical materials related to the
Allied censorship of Japan) at the McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, Mr. Etocame to Washington D.C. in person. Almost immediately, Mr. Eto found censoredhistorical materials related to The Last of Battleship Yamato. He made a moving academic
speech, during which he stated, “I was led here by the great guardian spirits of Japan.”
Mr. Eto was outstanding and wonderful, proudly giving a speech to an academic society
in the United States. On the other hand, while I had informed Mr. Eto of a valuable
historical source, I was totally disappointed with myself, having barely progressed with
my own study, “What a huge gap there is between Mr. Eto and me!”
My discouragement was broken with words written on three posters I happened to see atthe University:
1) “Dream what you dare to dream. Go where you want to go. Be what you want to be.
LIVE!”
2) “You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You2may have to work for it, however.”3) “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”
What I wanted to discover most were papers related to the “Shinto Directive”, issued on
December 15, 1945, which formed the kernel of the Allied occupation policy against
Japan, which “would destroy the enemy’s philosophy itself,” as President Roosevelt
stated. As these papers were hard to find, I temporarily returned to Japan. According to
Mr. Ashizu Uzuhiko, a Shinto scholar, these papers could be in the possession of
Claremont College, California, which supported William Woodard’s research, who was amember of the religion section of the CIE. But they were not there.
The papers were among the CIE papers kept at the Annex of the United States National
Archives. When I finally discovered the papers, clearly dated December 15, 1945 on the
top right, tears fell from my eyes. Nearly three years had passed since I came to the UnitedStates with a firm determination to find these exact papers. I went through hard anddifficult times, without giving up, hoping for this day to come. I kept in my mind myfather’s words of encouragement, who would often say, “Shiro, never mind. Things will
surely turn better. Just keep on working.” It was truly a wondrous experience--after the
miracle of that day, I discovered, one after another, a series of important historical records.
Thirty years after those memorable days, as I searched through American archives at
Vassar College, New York, the events of the past came back to me just like a Japaneserevolving lantern. After a lengthy detour of thirty years, I finally made it home. I felt as
if my father told me, “Welcome home, Son!” I have good reason to feel that way.
When I told my father my decision to go to the United States to study history of Japan
under the allied occupation, my father told me, with tears in his eyes, “I named you 史
朗 (literally, “history clear”) out of my sincere wish that someday you will make history
clear,”. I will never forget his words for the rest of my life. Reflecting upon how far I wasable to realize my father’s wish, I could not stop shedding tears. I said to myself, from thebottom of my heart, “Now is the time to return to my initial resolution.”
I have both scholarly and activist spirits. As I mentioned earlier, stimulated bysimultaneous reporting by major Japanese national newspapers, my scholarly spirit
3compelled me to go to the United States at the age of 30. After returning to Japan, I
became the youngest member of an expert committee of the Government’s Ad Hoc
Education Council and participated, over a period of almost three years, in discussing
educational reform for three hours a week. Thus, my activist spirit was ignited. (At thattime, I was 34 years old and there were no members, besides myself, in their thirties or
forties, and the mass media praised me as a young and energetic scholar on education,
which made me ecstatic. Seeing me in that situation, my father sent me a postcard withthe maxim, “The boughs that bear most hang lowest.”
After that, I worked as a lecturer and entrance examination examiner (examiner ofapplicants’ intentions) for Matsushita Seikei Juku (school of politics and economics);
researcher on international schools for the Ministry of Education; chairman of acommittee for research and study on sound growth and development for youths for the
Ministry of Home Affairs; member of a subcommittee of the Government strategic
committee to cope with declining birthrates; Saitama Prefecture Education
Superintendent; Vice-Chairman of the Society for History Textbook Reform; Head of the
Yasukuni Kassei Juku School; Director of the Teachers’ School/Association to promoteparents’ study; member of the Cabinet Office Gender Equality Committee (for three terms,
six years); Tokyo Metropolis Gender Equality Council (for three terms, six years);chairman of Saitama Prefecture Council on sound growth and development for youths(for two terms, four years); chairman of the Kanagawa Prefecture expert committee tocope with mal-adjustment to school; vice-Chairman of Arakawa Ward informal meeting
to promote gender equal society; member of Sendai City Gender Equal Society Promotion
Council, and so on.
For the past thirty years, while I devoted my time to participating in various activities, I
neglected my study of the history of postwar education. On my sixty-second birthday,
November 20, 2012, I made up my mind to return to the “beginning.”
During a public symposium held on November 10, 2012 by the Yasukuni Shrine
Reverence and Praise Society at Tosho Hall near Tokyo Station, I spoke with Mr.
Nakanishi Terumasa, professor emeritus of Kyoto University, which led me to become
interested in Ruth Benedict’s The Chrysanthemum and the Sword.
At about the same time, confidential papers which had not yet been published thirty years
ago were newly made public. Likewise, Mr. Kishimoto Hideo’s diary, which I could not4find at all, even asking Mr. Ashizu Uzuhiko and Mr. Kishimoto Hideo’s son, wasdiscovered at Oregon University, as well as Woodard’s papers. These discoveries ignited
my scholarly spirit. Mr. Kishimoto Hideo was assistant professor at the University ofTokyo at the time when the War was over and served as an advisor to the CIE religion
section.
I decided to resign from all my official positions, restrain my lecturing activities to theminimum required and devote myself to studying and writing. I wrote my resolutions on
New Year’s greetings cards and sent them to my friends and acquaintances. Mr. Nishio
Kanji, who was the main person who established the Society for History Textbook Reform,
along with Mr. Fujioka Nobukatsu and myself, wrote back:I am very happy to know that you decided to set on your life work. Decades ago, I
wished that you would write a great book on this theme. Now, my wish seems to becoming true. I am so glad that you are determined. That’s the way it should be. You
have “acted” fully and now is the time to compile the “thinking.” I’m looking forward
to seeing your life work completed.
I said to myself that my father would have thought the same way.
Pledge to study from diversified perspectives
On February 25, 2013, my wife and I left Narita at 3 p.m. for JFK International Airport
in New York. The time difference was fourteen hours. It was a twelve hour flight. Fourand a half hours after arrival at JFK, we flew directly from New York to London Heathrow
Airport. The time difference between New York and London was five hours. After a sevenhour flight, we arrived at Heathrow at six-thirty in the morning. We ate two in-flight meals
on each of the flights. With the long flights, nineteen hours in total, and the timedifferences, I didn’t know whether it was breakfast or lunch that I ate on the flights.
From Heathrow, we took a nearly three hour ride to the south by coach (long-distancebus). We arrived at Brighton, Sussex, facing the beautiful sea, where the Royal Pavilion
stands, which was built as imperial villa for George IV at the end of the eighteenth century.
Looking at the shining blue sea, we walked for forty minutes, dragging heavy luggage
along the seashore street lined with numerous hotels. Judging from the map that it would
be just ten minutes’ walk, we didn’t take a taxi. We were totally exhausted when we finally5arrived at the hotel after the long journey.
However, as the time allowed for the research of Geffrey Gorer’s papers held at the
University of Sussex Library special collection was short, we took a taxi to the University,
as it was already five in the afternoon, wasting no time and going without lunch, after
checking in at the hotel. I complained a little to my wife, “Oh, boy! We will barely manage
such a reckless schedule!” The University of Sussex is prestigious and famous for its
beautiful campus and interdisciplinary education, having produced three Nobel Prize
recipients, a president, a vice president, a rural minister and a minister of health.
I had emailed them beforehand in Japan about historical records I wanted to search andthe library clerk in charge of the Special Collection was waiting for us with the box ofhistorical papers I had requested. After finishing entrance procedures at the reception, thelibrary clerk guided us to the reading room on the second floor and instructed us regarding
the regulations. Photography was allowed, but no flash-photography. Scanned images, up
to fifty images per day, were allowed to be stored in USB memory, but no photocopying
was allowed.
First, we browsed through all of Gorer’s papers Online in the reading room and looked
through the catalogue of 1993. We were just overwhelmed at the volume of papers. The
shock revived in my mind, which I had felt when I saw, for the first time, 10,283 boxes
containing GHQ papers at the United States National Archives Annex, thirty years ago,during my first stay in the United States.
Back to the task at hand. We discussed how to work on the papers. One box of papers wasgiven to one person at a time. I decided which papers I would study closely, while mywife handwrote the titles of papers I had picked up, one after another. It was a team effort
indeed!
Through research at the University of Sussex, I was able to find historical records
pertaining to hearings (a surprise name was included among them), which were basis of
Gorer’s papers, which, in turn, became basis of Ruth Benedict’s The Chrysanthemum andthe Sword, reference literature and correspondence exchanged between those concerned.
Our efforts turned out to be quite fruitful.
At noon on March 4, we flew from Heathrow, London to JFK, New York a six hour flight.
6

Then, four hours later, riding the airport shuttle, subway and train, we were at Vassar
College. My shoulders were in miserable conditions after the long journey, carrying heavy
luggage. Incidentally, in New York, on the same day, the United Nations Commission on
the Status of Women convened with its meeting on “the elimination and prevention of all
forms of violence against women and girls.”
Photography was permitted of Benedict’s Vassar College papers. Copying was also
permitted. While I checked the papers in order to decide which to copy, my wife wrote
down the folder numbers, the names of documents and dates on the application form. We
also took photos of what we judged were necessary. We mainly searched papers related
to correspondence between Benedict and Gorer before she wrote The Chrysanthemum
and the Sword as well as Benedict’s activities connected with the Allied occupation
policies against Japan.
On March 5, His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Japan arrived in New York andpleasantly spoke with UN executives and UN Ambassadors from various countries at a
reception held at United Nations Headquarters. On the following day, March 6, His
Imperial Highness gave a wonderful keynote address at the Special Thematic Session on
Water and Disasters. I was very much moved by His Highness’s excellent address. I
remember the precious occasions: when a national inter-high school athletic meet washeld at Saitama Prefecture, I was honored to be invited as Superintendent of Education of
Saitama Prefecture to a lunch attended by His Imperial Highness (around ten persons in
total were present) and years later, when I was invited to Imperial Tea, His Imperial
Highness remembered me and spoke to me, to my great honor.
On March 8, I attended the “International Women’s Day” session held at UN
Headquarters. Delegates from all over the world and NGO representatives assembled. As
I am a member of the Japanese Government’s Gender Equality Committee, I also attended
the session to check-up on discussion.
At 6:53AM, March 10, we flew from New York to Eugene, Oregon, via Salt Lake City.
Immediately before departure from New York, I remembered, barely in time, that daylightsavings time was to begin on March 10, wherein clocks were to be set an hour ahead. Onthat day, waking up at four in the morning, I happened to read an article mentioning
daylight savings in The New York Times from the day before. I thanked my ancestors forsuch luck. The flight to Eugene was nine and a half hours.
7

My parents and I in
1981
in
front
HooverInstitute,
Stanford University.

After checking in at a hotel, we went to see the University of Oregon campus. We foundmany students wearing short-sleeved T shirts early in March. We were in heavy coats,having come from freezing cold New York, where it snowed the day before our departure.
The sight reminded me of the shock I had felt, thirty years ago, when I drove myself,
starting from snow-covered Washington, D.C. across the American Continent, for nearlyeight hours a day, for a week, finally arriving at Stanford University, which is about thirtyseven miles to the southeast of San Francisco. At Stanford, beautiful flowers were in fullbloom here and there and I enjoyed seeing cherry blossoms, harbingers of spring,blossoming well ahead of those in Japan.
On March 11, on the second anniversary the Great East Japan Earthquake, I first prayed
for the victims. Then I began study of Woodard’s papers at the University of Oregon’s
Knight Library. I was thrilled to find the diary of Kishimoto Hideo, which I had been
searching for without success, together with the vivid “Shinto Directive,” a draft of the8“Imperial Declaration of Humanity” and related papers. I read them through at a breath.
These are extremely valuable historical documents, concisely depicting the highly
charged negotiation process between Japan and the GHQ with regard to the Shinto
Directive (including the issue of Yasukuni Shrine), the Imperial Declaration of Humanity,
Imperial Rescript on Education and suspension of the use of school textbooks on morals
and history.
Back in my thirties, I had found the draft of the Shinto Directive after searching for two
and a half years. Now that I found more detailed historical sources, I could not help but
feel that I was led here to the Knight Library to fulfill a preordained mission. The Shinto
Directive was the center of the Allied occupation policy, of the “mental disarmament ofJapan,” together with the abolishment of the Imperial Rescript on Education andsuspension of the use of school textbooks on morals and history. To clearly demonstrate
the impropriety of the Shinto Directive must have been a historical mission given to me
when my father named me 史朗, wishing me to “clarify history,” as my Japanese nameindicates. And to fulfill my mission, I was once again led to the study of papers related to
the Allied occupation.
On March 14, I returned to New York again and I saw the film Emperor, which wasmentioned in The New York Times, with stills, the previous day. The film ended with adramatic scene closely showing what was discussed between General Douglas MacArthur,
played by Tommy Lee Jones, and the Emperor Showa, played by a Japanese actor, during
their first meeting.
On March 17, we took an Amtrak train from New York to Philadelphia, an hour and a half
ride. After dropping in at the University of Pennsylvania, we took a taxi and in half anhour arrived at a hotel near Swarthmore College. After checking in at the hotel, we started
walking toward Swarthmore College, just to have a look beforehand. While walking, we
asked a woman the way, who admonished us for walking to the college. She was kind,yet highly passionate, dissuading us to walk all the way to the college. We gave up andwent back to the hotel. My wife wrote a little poem, praising the kind woman:
How kind of you, worrying for us foreigners, saying that it was too far to walk
When I said, “Don’t worry,” you said instantly, “Oh, I do worry for you.”
You were so upset and worried about us intent on walking further
9

We were happy and touched by the warmth of your heartYour warm heart moved us almost in tears
Indeed, there were such heart-warming occasions of unexpected encounters now and thenduring our busy and hard academic trips. An encounter with a Japanese hotel housekeeper
who took care of us was one of them. My wife wrote another poem, the second one on
the eventful day.
In the eastern part of America, far away from Japan
Seeing you work so busily and chatting with us for a brief time
Something sweet touched out hearts
I wish you will stay fine and charming for years to comeJust several minutes’ conversation brought happy tears to her and our eyes. Something
must have touched our hearts. Encountering people who live their own lives as best theycan encouraged us so much that we cannot help but wish them luck, “May you have thebest in life!”
On the next day, we started our study of Helen Mears’ papers at Swarthmore College’s
McCabe Library.
From March 19, we studied papers dated 1944 related to the Institute of Pacific Relations(IPR) at Columbia University’s Butler Library and visited the Donald Keene Center ofJapanese Culture (established in 1986), also at Columbia University.
On March 22, we returned to Japan after a nearly a month of research and study in the
United States and the U.K. We had 3,000 pages of photocopied historical records, 800
photographed pages and over 200 pages of handwritten notes. It will take an enormous
amount of time to read all these materials, put them in order and write academic papers
based on these materials and publish them as a book. I determined to devote my time andenergy to this great task, without wasting a single minute.
What I felt after the one-month overseas research was that the theme of my study
expanded away from the sphere of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword. Through pursuing
the source of Gorer’s papers, which became the basis of The Chrysanthemum and theSword, it became clear that we must totally examine the relationship between the theme10

of my study of thirty years ago, the Allied policy of dealing with the Emperor system,
including the abolishment of Shinto and the Imperial Rescript on Education on one hand,
and the various Allied policies aiming to “destroy the enemy’s philosophy”, or “mental
disarmament”, on the other.
In this way, it may be possible to review the dark and light of Allied occupation policies
from a more mature point of view. Thirty years ago, my study emphasized only the
darkness of Allied occupation policy and I was entirely committed to pursuing how far
the United States was responsible. Now that I can look at things with a wider anddiversified perspective and set myself free from a narrow and one-sided view, I would
like to review both the light and darkness of Allied education policy toward Japan under
occupation, with The Chrysanthemum and the Sword as an axis, in a diversified andcomprehensive manner.
I wonder of life’s mysterious force, which led me to focus my study on Allied occupation
policies once again. I shudder at the enormous volume of historical documentation that I
have collected. I have restarted my study. I now stand at the crucial point of my life, withmy academic ability to be judged in the future. I hope to continue my research in an
objective and empirical manner, as much as I possibly can.
Confidential papers related to Elizabeth Vining
Thus, I resumed my study of overseas archives. Since 2012, I drove across the U.S.,
covering more than ten thousand kilometers, or sixty-two thousand miles, a year andvisited universities, colleges and libraries and laboriously studied historical papers kept
by these institutions. I also did some research regarding the current issue of “historicalviews” over Japan.
On March 2014, during my stay in the United States, the Japanese Government would
reexamine the Kono Statement regarding the “military comfort women.” I looked throughhistorical sources regarding “military comfort women” at the United States National
Archives in Washington, D.C. I also visited stone monuments of comfort women in Los
Angeles and New York. I investigated, in depth, the true circumstances of Japanesechildren being bullying in states next to California.
At the United States National Archives, I also investigated Beate Sirota Gordon who
11drafted Article 24 of the Japanese Constitution. In near the future, Ms. Gordon’s papers
are slated to be published at Mills College, her alma mater (Mills College’s F. W. Olin
Library Special Collections & Archives, General Manuscript Collection, Global Fund for
Women Collection).
The Prange Collection at the McKeldin Library, the University of Maryland, where I used
to study as a student, contains the Marlene J. Mayo Oral Histories. Marlene Mayo isassociate professor emeritus at the University of Maryland. I found out that among theoral histories were interviews with Beate Gordon and Helen Mears.
On March 9, leaving Washington, D.C., we drove through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania andarrived at Swarthmore College. We were fascinated by the beautiful campus. At
Swarthmore, I scanned all of Helen Mears papers and sent the data to my computer, whichcrashed due to the heavy volume of data. So, I gave up scanning the papers andphotocopied two-thirds of them, while my wife photographed the remaining third.
With respect to borrowing historical documents at academic institutions in the UnitedStates and the United Kingdom, in principle, usually one box of papers is handed out toone researcher at a time. So, it was wonderful for us to work with two boxes of papers at
the same time together. Team work really counted. People often tell me, “I am envious of
you that you and your wife stay at a hotel overseas for a long time together.” Well, in
reality, it is was not that sweet. During our days abroad, we were too busy copying andphotographing page after page, all day long, without even a coffee break. And at the endof each day, after we finished, we went back to the hotel and we literally collapsed onto
beds, too tired to do anything else. I had never experienced such a hardship in my entire
academic life. The work required considerable amount of energy, both physically andmentally. I am lucky and grateful for the fact that I am still fit, both physically andmentally, for a man in his sixties. I am eager to do my best, in whatever way that I can for
my research, with the help of my wife, who works as hard as I do.
On March 12, I went to Haverford College at Haverford, Pennsylvania. At Magill
Library’s Quaker and Special Collections, I examined Elizabeth Vining’s papers. Vining
taught English, as a tutor, to Emperor Akihito as a child. There were thirty-nine Viningboxes, twelve of which were designated confidential and restricted. No photographing
nor copying was permitted. Even taking notes was prohibited. If I had a better memory,
it would have been a lot of help. Anyway, we read all the pages without missing a line.
12

As reproducing restricted materials was not allowed, I am sorry that I cannot tell readers
anything about them. Since they are confidential, imperial matters, we are to respect theirwishes.
In an era of worldwide information flow, some may wonder whether it is necessary todrive and visit, in person, universities in the United States. I would say that it is impossible
to peruse these confidential papers unless you visit the library in person. Those who wantto know what papers are stored there, please refer to “Finding Aid for the ELIZABETH
GRAY VINING PAPERS, 1897-1989,” Special Collections, Haverford College Library.
The most interesting are the records of the first meeting between the Emperor Showa andGeneral Douglas McArthur. Mrs. Vining wrote down in her diary what she heard from
Douglas McArthur about his first meeting with the Emperor during her interview with
McArthur.

At a symposium of Japan under Allied occupation held at Douglas McArthur Memorial
in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1980, with Mrs. Vining (third from the left in the back row) andthe author (the farthest right).

13

Part of Mrs. Vining’s diary is quoted in the book Emperor and I, written by Elizabeth
Gray Vining (published by Yamamoto Shoten):
I tried to pressure a little harder and asked the Emperor whether he was willing to takethe responsibility of the War. The Emperor said, “Before I answer Your Honor’squestion, let me say a few words. I don’t mind how Your Honor treat me. I will accept
whatever your decision is. I don’t mind if I am to be hanged. I never wanted a war, notonce. For one thing, I did not think that Japan would win. More than that, I did not likethose who advocated expansion of armaments and I did not trust them, either. I believethat I did whatever I could do in my power to prevent the war.”
Moreover, Vining’s Papers include letters written by Empress Kojun, Empress Michiko,and Emperor Akihito; the verbatim record of conversations between the Emperor andDouglas MacArthur; and a record of preparations for the Imperial meeting made by
Koizumi Shinzo and others concerned.
When we arrived at Haverford College, my wife wrote a poem:
What did I see at Haverford College in the rain?
I saw you work, solely absorbed in your mission
You move by instinct from within, pure and straight
Nothing premeditated
Just intent on working, free from everything else
When I saw you taking out papers from the car about to work
I remember how elaborately you prepared for the visit here to the College
You came all the way on your own
I felt like crying, thinking how helpless I have been
Looking at your back, I felt father in you
On March 14, we drove to New York and attended two events related to the annual sessionof the United Nations Committee on the Status of Women held at UN Headquarters, justas we had done the year before.
14

On March 16, we flew to Los Angeles. I saw my old friend from university days, forty
years ago. Though his face barely looked the same as before, my overall impression wasthat he now looked like a nice old man. I was totally overwhelmed at the passing of forty
years. I was speechless after I heard his life story—how he recovered from being
penniless. An old friend of mine lived an extraordinary life, far away from Japan. Now,
he is a successful real estate dealer. An American dream come true!
[Photo]: At a symposium of Japan under Allied occupation held at Douglas McArthur
Memorial in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1980, with Mrs. Vining (third from the left in the backrow) and the author (the farthest right).
Trip encounters
In August 2015, which marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the War, we drove arental, covering nearly two thousand kilometers, or twelve hundred miles, throughVancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, to Cornell University at Ithaca, New York. Then, wecrossed Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge and went back to Toronto, where I
gave a lecture at the launch of the “Himawari Club in Toronto.” Afterwards, we studied
at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
I discussed with Japanese residents in various places and learned that bullying andharassment against Japanese residents were spreading across Canada. In a survey, aJapanese high school student studying on his own in Canada told me about the bullying
situation. When I conducted a similar survey in the United States, Japanese high school
students I interviewed lived with their parents, without exception. But, in Canada, not a
few Japanese high school students studied in Canada, far from their parents in Japan. With
anxiety, they stated, “I am worried because I have no one to ask for help when I get bullied.
I wonder who will help me in case of an emergency.” I said to them, “Don’t worry. You
can email me anytime for help.” We should never forget the fact that there are many
Japanese high school students studying abroad, feeling anxious and helpless on their own.
At the University of British Columbia and the Library and Archives of Canada, we studied
documents, including his will, related to Canadian diplomat Egerton Herbert Norman,
who had tremendous influence on GHQ occupation policy. At Cornell University, we
researched Harold J. Timperley, who disseminated “the Great Nanjing Massacre” to the15world and greatly influenced the Tokyo Trials. At UCLA, we studied Bradford Smith whoplanned and implemented the War Guilt Information Program (WGIP).
We had many memorable encounters along the trip this time. First, after we arrived at
Vancouver, we went straight to the University of British Columbia. On the way to the
University, we got on a bus and knew that only coins were accepted. We were in trouble
since we had only bill with us. A kindly passenger called out, “Does anyone have coins?”
An old woman of about eighty stood up, took out two senior passes worth CAD1.75 eachand told the driver, “Here, for the two of them.” A not-very sociable driver accepted herpasses and we got on board the bus without trouble.
When my wife tried to pay her back, she declined, “No, you don’t have to.” Anyway, mywife handed her bills, saying, “This is token of gratitude for your kindness.” She accepted
the bill and returned with change. My wife then gave her a new cell-phone strap made ofinden (buff), “in remembrance of your love toward us Japanese.” After we got off the bus,
she saw us off, throwing a kiss. She was a nice and charming Canadian lady.
Ninety-seven years old Mr. Asai Kikuji, whom we met in Los Angeles, was a man of softand quiet posture and impressed us deeply with his hidden strength and his own way oflife. His wife had passed away more than thirty years ago, but he did not have a hint ofloneliness or senility.
He is an “eternal young man.” He established and represents the Los Angeles Branch of
the “Mokukei (wooden chicken) Club,” a club comprised of readers of the Japanesemonthly magazine Chichi. When I visited the United States in August 2015, I was invited
to give a lecture on the second anniversary of the establishment of the Los Angeles Branch.
Since then, every time I visit Los Angeles, I make it a rule to see him.
The first thing, every morning, Mr. Asai says to himself, “Good morning, young Asai!”with a smile and starts his day. Years ago, during a lecture held by the Yasukuni Shrine
Reverence and Praise Society, I asked former tea ceremony patriarch, Sen Genshitsu of
the Ura Senke family, what was the secret for staying young, he answered, “Every
morning I greet to myself smiling in the mirror, ‘Good morning!’” Mr. Asai reminded meof this episode.
Twenty years from now, time will come when people in their fifties and sixties constitute16

majority of the population. Such a solitary and aged life will be lived not “with sheer
loneliness” but “with heart-felt gratitude” by men like Mr. Asai. Mr. Asai also reminded
me of writer Kusayanagi Daizo, who once described poet Iida Dakatsu’s state of mind in
his later years when he wrote a poem, “Dare Kare mo arazu Itten Zison no Aki,” (Nomatter who it is, the whole autumn sky makes one feel proud of oneself), as “reason fordying.” My wife wrote poems about the most enchanted encounter with Mr. Asai:
The essence of “Arigato (thank you)”In the morning, standing in the kitchen, I remember the man’s words
Waking up in the morning, I say “Thank you!” to myself in the mirror“Thank you” for being alive“Thank you” for making myself coffee
A person who greets every morning with such warm thought:
Past halfway his nineties
Straightening up his back
Always smiling tender and warm smiles
I am so happy to meet him
His “thank you” is the essence of “thank you”
Following him, I will stand at the essence of “thank you”
Even seventy years after the end of the War, conflicts grow worse between Japan and
China and Korea over issues like the “comfort women.” Various encounters on ourjourney abroad transcend such racial confrontation. Allow me to introduce one morepoem written by my wife to conclude the Prologue:
You came from Korea to study in America
You study while working part-time
I wish with all my heart
May your studying here in America help make the rest of your life truly worth living!
You said to me, “Japanese?”
And you said, “I’m Chinese”
At a restaurant, you were not serving our table, but whenever you had time
You came over to our table and talked to us, over and over17

When we were leaving, I looked around for you and we hugged each other withmuch love!
Korean, Chinese and Japanese
We just met briefly here in America
A warm, big circle was drawn on the canvass of my heart.

*Notes: ＜List of Papers I studied＞1

1

１ Geoffrey Gorer Papers of Special Collection, University of Sussex Library .

2 Ruth Fulton Benedict Papers of Archives and Special Collection, Vassar College Library.
3 William Parsons Woodard Papers of Special Collection & University Archives of Knight Library,
University Oregon
４ Helen Mears Papers of Swarthmore College Peace Collection, McCabe Library.
５ Papers of Institute of Pacific Relations of Columbia University, Butler Library.
6 Marlene J Mayo Oral Histories of Gordon W. Prange Collection, University of Maryland Library.
7 Elizabeth Janet Gray Vining Papers of Quaker & Special Collection, Hoverford College, Magil
Library.
8

Bradford Smith Papers of UCLA, Charles E. Young Research Library.

９ Harold John Timperley Papers, Cornell University Library.
10 Joseph C. Grew Papers of Houghton Library, Harvard University.
11 Diaries of James V. Forrestal,1944-1949 of Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University.
12 The Reminiscence of Harold G. Henderson of Special Collection, Columbia University Library.
13 William K. Bunce Papers of Harry S. Truman Presidental Library & Museum.
14 Colonel Charles Kades Papers of MacArthur Memorial.
15 Bonner F. Fellers Papers & Joseph C. Trainor Papers of Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
16 Geoffrey Gorer Memo,1942,Institute of Human Relations, Yale University.
18